Portable electronic devices are known to include an enclosure that receives internal components. For instance, the enclosure may include a bottom portion that stores several internal components, such as a battery and a processor circuit. The enclosure may further include a top portion coupled with the bottom portion. The top portion may include components such as a visual display and a camera. Typically, the top portion is designed to pivot with respect to the bottom portion in order to present the portable computing device in an open configuration or a closed configuration. In order to provide electrical current to the visual display and the camera, a flexible circuit may be electrically coupled with the battery as well as the processor circuit, and may also extend from the bottom portion to the top portion.
However, this presents several challenges. For instance, the flexible circuit may be coupled with an electrical connector designed to mate with an integrated circuit within the display housing. Each time the top portion is actuated to pivot about the bottom portion, a force is applied to the flexible circuit which may cause the flexible circuit to decouple with the electrical connector. As a result, there is a loss of power and/or data communication between components in the bottom portion and components in the top portion. Also, the flexible circuit may become visible to an end user of the portable computing device which is generally undesirable.
Also, current trends in portable computing devices include a portable computing device having a smaller footprint. As a result, the device may include a reduced internal space or volume. This presents several challenges. For instance, the bottom portion of the portable computing device may include a sensor designed to provide an input signal to the portable computing device when the device in or near a closed configuration—when the top portion is sufficiently close to the bottom portion—in order to power down the visual display. One method of doing so includes a Hall Effect sensor capable of detecting a magnetic field produced from a magnet in the top portion. However, other devices including magnets can be detected by the Hall Effect sensor which may induce a “false trigger” which powers down the visual display when the portable electronic device is in an open configuration.
In addition, the bottom portion may include a bottom case that defines a base region of the portable computing device. In addition to the bottom case having a given thickness, the bottom case may further include a curved, or non-linear contour such that when combined with a top case (also part of the bottom portion), a reduced internal volume results. The reduced internal volume may lead to smaller internal components, such as a smaller battery pack. As a result, the portable computing device may operate under a reduced operating time between charging consecutive charges of the battery pack.